Spec Dinosauria: Titanosauria
INTRODUCTION The sauropods are a group of dinosaurs whose image is well known in popular Home-Earth culture. They are enormous four-footed browsers, long-necked and long-tailed, and were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Jurassic and Cretaceous. On Spec, the sauropods are alive and well, but nowhere near as widespread as during the Mesozoic. They are represented by a single lineage, the aptly named Titanosaurs the largest land-animals on the planet. HISTORY Titanosaurs first appeared in the Late or perhaps Middle Jurassic as long-necked browsers, and became highly successful during the Cretaceous when the rest of their kin went into decline. Throughout Spec's Late Cretaceous and into the Paleocene, titanosaurs flourished across the globe, especially in the south. The fortunes of the titanosaurs began to wane as Spec's Cenozoic dawned. First, the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum caused a decline in diversity throughout the tropics. While the global rainforest was not as dense as HE, its growth pushed titanosaurs into cooler, dryer forest zones. It is believed this wiped out all old African endemics, as titanosaurs only reappear in the African fossil record during the Miocene. In the Oligocene, the South American faunal turnover, and the rise of the highly cursorial gryphons, coincided with a terminal decline for titanosaurs on that continent with the extinction of Acrotitan. The early Miocene saw a miniature mass extinction in Australasia sparked the end of not only the native titanosaurs, but all other large-bodied herbivores and carnivores on the continent. By the Late Miocene, however, titanosaurs were still going strong throughout Eurasia and North America, radiating into Africa, and experimenting with new grazing niches. However, the ice ages once again dramatically pared down the diversity of the group, all but flushing it out of North America and Europe entirely. Today titanosaurs can be found in most of the non-arid parts of Africa and tropical Asia, along with remnant species in southern Europe and North America. The total number of species is subject to great debate, with some specologists claiming there are as little as ten, while others claiming there are at least thirty, with most of the debate being on the species count of the mokeles. NEOBRACHIIDAE (Gihugrongos) The gihugrongos are conservative, high-browsing titanosaurs that convergently resemble the distantly related brachiosaurid sauropods of the Mesozoic. They possess elongated forelimbs, a short tail and very long, stiff neck that holds the head well above the rest of the body. These adaptations allow the gihugrongos to access foliage high in the trees, well above the reach of most other herbivores. Their snouts are equipped with large, chisel-like teeth that they use crop twigs and fruit. While about twenty extinct forms are known with a fossil record extending back into the Oligocene, only three species and two subspecies survive today in Africa, while only two thrive in Asia and a single genus thrives exclusively. Gihugrongo (Neobrachius giganteus) Watching gihugrongos pluck at the branches of manglar conifers in the African dry forests and tree savannas, one is transported back to a bygone era when similar beasts roamed across the planet. These giants can stretch up to 22 meters in length, with heads reaching up to 15 meters vertically - more than high enough to reach into the treetops. They are thought to regularly reach 20 tonnes, although understandably, none has ever been weighed. Adult dryforest gihugrongos have to fear no one only the rare black beast bull which still hunts with his nest-brothers can take one down. Although the gihugrongo produces incredible devastation, it is the only disperser of the seeds of many manglar species. Because of the sauropods, the trees are more widely distributed than one would expect otherwise. The jentil (N. giganteus ibericus), is a gihugrongo subspecies found throughout Iberia, browsing placidly in the local oak forests. It is believed to be descended from a now extinct Saharan population which crossed the Mediterranean following the end of the last ice age. It is broadly similar to the African population, except only 3/4ths of the size, with a darker coloration. Most interesting is its novel breeding behavior. Adults migrate during breeding season to the coastline, which is typically above freezing all year, to lay their eggs in the springtime. After hatching, babies stay close to the coast for the first few years of their life, only embarking for the interior when they have surpassed 1 tonne. A similar subspecies, the behemoth (N. giganteus syriacus) is found throughout the cedar forests dotting the coast of the Levant. It is smaller still than the Iberian subspecies. Genetic studies suggest the two are closer related than either is to the main population in Africa. Rainforest Gihugrongo (Neobrachius ingens) An adult rainforest gihugrongo (Neobrachius ingens) is somewhat bigger than it's dryforest cousin, reaching 16 metres in length and probably exceeding 10 tonnes in weight. It is close to 6 metres tall at the shoulder while its head can reaching twice as high into the air. An awe-inspiring animal for sure, but still a pipsqueak when compared with some of its extinct predecessors which were twice as long. These little-known sauropods are restricted to the lowland forests of the Congo Basin. Found either as solitary animals, in pairs or in small herds, rainforest gihugrongous have a profound impact on the rainforest vegetation thanks to their insatiable appetites. Day and night they plough through the forest like a living combination of bulldozer and steamroller, noisily forcing their way through the undergrowth. The tendency of rainforest gihugrongos to follow regular pathways through the jungle has led to a network of deep-trodden "gihugrongo-highways" up to 4 metres wide that are devoid of trees and creates an open canopy that allows sunlight to reach the forest floor, creating microhabitats for entire biotas that live nowhere else. Rainforest gihugrongos usually feed on the move, stripping leaves from branches on either side of the highway, each individual at its own height. Dryforest Gihugrongo (Neobrachius altissimus) Watching dryforest gihugrongos (Neobrachius altissimus) pluck at the branches of manglar conifers in the African dry forests and tree savannas, one is transported back to a bygone era when similar beasts roamed across the planet. These colossal animals still commonly reach 14 meters in length and are thought to reach 8 tonnes in weight, although, understandably, none has ever been weighed. Adult dryforest gihugrongos have no natural predators with all but the largest of black beasts giving them a wide berth. Although dryforest gihugrongos can produce quite some devastation, they are the only dispersers of the seeds of many manglars. Because of these sauropods, the trees are more widely distributed than one would expect otherwise. Maha-pudha (Neobrachius indicus) The maha-pudha is a rare species of gihugrongo that can be found throughout the dry and monsoon forests of India south of the Himalayas and west of Bengal. Both males and females are a unappealing sickly yellow-green color when fully-grown, and only distinguishable by the larger row of keratinous spines on the males back. Weighing 17 tonnes, it has little to fear other than the attentions of a particularly desperate ravana. Erawan (Neobrachius indochinae) The erawan is a smaller gihugrongo (approximately 14 tonnes) predominant in the dryer and more hilly interior regions of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Bandulars and undaurs do poorly here, as the native gymnosperms are not to their liking, and lose all of their needles during the dry season. In contrast, the erawan can survive easily on twigs and fat reserves until the next monsoon. Though very similar in morphology, and close in proximity, to the maha-pudha, the two species do not appear to be especially closely-related. Fossils suggest during the Pliocene the erawan was found significantly further north into China, only beating a retreat to its current habitat with the ice ages. Centeotl (Cyanotitan mexicana) Gihugrongos were, until the Pliocene, common throughout the dryer forested regions of North America, with fossils known from points as varied as Alaska, to Tennessee, to Honduras. Today, only the centeotl remains. This 6-tonne creature can be found throughout the Mexican dry forests south of the Sonora and north of the rainforest, but is most common in the Balsas dry forests. As its generic name suggests, its is a stunning blue-green color, unusually flashy for a gihugrongo. During the dry season, adults migrate north and west into the Sierran Madre Occidental – sub-freezing temperatures are rare this far south in Mexico, and they are more than large enough to handle an occasional chill. Unusually for a gihugrongo, it has a fairly impressive set of dermal armor. This is surprising given dermal armor is known for none of the extinct relatives in North America. It is theorized that as the habitat shrunk, forcing it into a climactic island, it needed to develop other defenses besides sheer size to avoid the predation of sabre-tyrants. Perhaps also related to higher population pressures, clutch sizes are twice as large than other titanosaurs, and unlike others in its clade, instead of living alone it forms herds of around a dozen. NEOTITANOSAURIDAE (Grassbags) The grassbags (Neotitanosaurus ''sp.)'' are the giant grazing sauropods of the grasslands and savannah, evolved in the early Miocene from high-browsing forms that took advantage of the tree savannas that spread across much of Africa. Such a dramatic shift in lifestyle has led to many anatomical changes from their ancestors. The extremely long and slender neck of their ancestors became progressively shorter and more robust. This adaptation allowed for a larger skull with more powerful jaw muscles to tackle tough, fibrous grasses. Sharp chisel-like teeth were packed into tight, cropping batteries at the front of the square-shaped snout. To cope with increasingly arid conditions the neural spines on the dorsal vertebrae became elongated to form an immense sail, both for the anchorage of fat reserves and as a radiator of excess heat. The grassbags spread rapidly across Africa and into Eurasia during the Miocene. However, the comings and goings of the Ice Ages has led to a high rate of species turnover in the north with several waves of extinction and reintroduction occurring during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene, the most famous examples being the †Russian Grassbag (Neotitanosaurus uralensis) and the †Ultramax Grassbag (Neotitanosaurus ultramaximus). All modern grassbags may be descended from a northern African species known from the same period, tentatively named the Ultramax Grassbag (Neotitanosaurus ultramaximus). "Ultramax" is known only from a pair of non-intact vertebrae and is the focus of much speculation, most of which focuses on its size, which seems to have surpassed even today's gihugrongo. Today, only one grassbag species reside in Africa, with an additional two species in Asia. Those being the Bandersnatch grassbag'' (''Neotitanosaurus halletti), ''Greenback grassbag (''Neotitanosaurus viridis) and the two Asian species being the Indian grassbag (Neotitanosaurus indicus) and the turgey grassbag (Carrolotitan giganteus). Bandersnatch Grassbag'' (''Neotitanosaurus halletti) Bandersnatches inhabit grassland, savannah, and bush steppe throughout sub-Saharan Africa and show little preference in their solo treks in search of fodder, cropping grass and sub-bushes to within a few centimetres of the ground. Spexplorers chancing upon a vast swath of grassland mowed down by an individual just the day before had good reason to call the creature that had done such a neat job a "grassbag". Lacking molars like other sauropods, bandersnatches do not chew their food. Instead, they pass the grass (and any insects or small vertebrates unfortunate enough to have been caught in the titanosaur's ongoing feeding frenzy) to their enormous gizzards where rocks the size of a fist pound the silica-ridden plant material into a more manageable paste that slowly traverses the animal's incredibly long gut for bacteria-aided digestion. )]]Grassbags feed ravenously during the wet season, building huge reserves of fat and gaining up to six tons in weight. Great masses of adipose tissue collect on the dorsal fin, giving them a humpbacked appearance. During this period, bandersnatches, as all large herbivores, support a community of smaller organisms that benefit from its day to day activities. Birds and small theropods follow the individuals, catching any arthropod or small vertebrate disturbed by the sauropod's incessant grazing. Smaller herbivores benefit from the grassbag's sheer might as protection from predation. It is a somewhat strained alliance as they have to keep slightly ahead of the larger dinosaur lest tarrying enough to find themselves without anything to eat. A choice delicacy delivered every three days to a week by each titanosaur is the average ton of steaming faeces, which attract small herbivores looking for wayward seeds, dung beetles for its partially digested vegetable material for their ball nests and carnivores looking for easy, distracted prey. Greenback Grassbag (Neotitanosaurus viridis) The greenback grassbag is the smallest of african grassbag species, measuring 16-18 meters at most. It is also less common than the bandersnatch grassbag. As the name clearly shows, they are green-coloured with backs in a distinctively brighter shade. The bulls' necks turn reddish-orange during the mating season and they have a more nasal and higher-pitched call than the bandersnatch bulls: "pheeeeee!" They inhabit the vast savannas of Africa. Indian Grassbag (Neotitanosaurus indicus) The Indian grassbag, at 14-16 meters, is the smallest and most rare grassbag species. They are mottled pale brown and grey, with the bulls' necks turning bright yellow and green during the mating season. The signal blasts of the Indian grassbag are deep "beeeooo!" calls. Turgey Grassbag (Carrolotitan giganteus) The bastion of herbivory in some areas Asia where the some species Brachioceratopsians are absent, despite the fact that brachioceratopsians fulfill the role of high-browsing sauropods through out most Asia and where sauropods fulfill the role of brachioceratopsians in other areas, is the Tulgey-grassbag (Carrolotitan giganteus), the largest and most impressive of the asian grassbags, and the species of the Carrolotitan genus. At 24 meters, with a relatively long neck and tail, it can shake the ground with it's footfalls, and phase even the mightiest butcher-bull with it's deafening roar. It is as heavy as 12 bull elephants, when fat and gorged with graze. MOKELESAURIDAE (Mokeles & Davanas) The mokeles are small to medium-sized titanosaurs that, by virtue of their ability to colonize remote islands, have become the most diverse family in the titanosaur group. The mokelesaurs are adapted towards an amphibious lifestyle, and actually resemble the popular outmoded Home-Earth reconstructions of Jurassic sauropods. Mokeles have robust, barrel-shaped torsos and comparatively short limbs. Like the skeletons of many diving birds, their air sacs no longer invade the bones, keeping them solid and heavy and allowing the animals to stay underwater with little effort. The more derived of the two extant genera (Mokelesaurus) has eyes and nostrils positioned on protuberances at the very top of its skull, allowing the animal to breathe and survey its surroundings while remaining mostly submerged. As they are smaller than other titanosaurs and often share the waterways with a variety of big, nasty predators, mokeles have the most extensive armour protection of any sauropod. This armor consists of a combination of closely packed ossicles, rounded scutes and triangular spines. Mokeles feed on a wide variety of aquatic foliage ranging from riparine weeds to marine seagrasses. Nile Mokele (Mokelesaurus mbembe) The Nile mokele (Mokelesaurus mbembe), largest of modern mokele species (surpassed only by the extinct Mokelesaurus gargouille, which lived in large parts of Europe during the Pliocene interglacials) is nevertheless a rather small sauropod. This amphibious titanosaur can reach lengths of 12 meters and weights of 6 tonnes, though individuals this large are rare. Nile mokeles rule the rivers and wetlands of Africa. These sauropods live like hippopotami, walking along the riverbottom while placidly plucking at aquatic vegetation, sometimes using their necks to reach foliage growing on the riverbanks without leaving the water. They are often accompanied by swarms of fish that either snatch up small invertebrates in the kicked-up silt or graze on algae growing on the dinosaurs' scaly flanks. Formidable armour renders the adults effectively immune to attack from the large crocodiles that share their habitat. Brooding mothers lay their eggs in a simple, fiercely guarded pit on the riverbank. The hatchlings are 65 cm long and form creches among the reeds and sheltered pools. Congolese Mokele (Mokelesaurus mbembe congolensis) The congolese sub-species of Mokele (Mokelesaurus mbembe congolensis) is slightly smaller than other subspecies, but is equally destructive and noisy in it's feeding. The carp-cichlid (Mokelichthys medius) is a detritivorous fish that constantly feeds around the water-bourne vegetative scraps and dung of the mokele. River-Ganesha (Mokelesaurus gangeticus) These animals pale in significance to the greatest creature of the Ganges, the river-Ganesha (Mokelesaurus gangeticus). A giant titanosaur, commonly found in the ganges, they joy in plying the waters offshore, in search of tender vegetation overhanging the shore. Their tail is huge, as long as 6 meters, the whole body amounts to a total of 19 meters, though this is rare due to the hatchling mortality being extremely high, with reduced armor and propulsion by sculling with it's huge, deep tail, growing much larger than its relatives its African relatives. These creatures can be found in rivers and waterways through out the warmer region of Asia where the aquatic potamoceratopsians seem to be absent. Mauritius Mokele (Mokelesaurus mauritianus) A recently discovered species of Mokele native to the island of Mauritius, this one happens to be the smallest of them all, growing up to meters of no bigger than 4 meters long, growing up to the same size of a minimokele. Making one of the smallest sauropods known in the world of Spec. These creatures can be seen near water ways of beaches through out the island, patrolling the areas in a search aquatic plants. Reunion Mokele (Mokelesaurus mauritianus shanklandi) Despite its goofy name, this newly discovered species of titanosaur is non the less a rather interesting subspecies of mokele. A native to the island of Reunion, this is the small species of sauropod known to Spec, growing about a third smaller than the Malagasy Mokele. However, unlike most of its relatives that are semiaquatic creatures, they are one of the few species of mokele which seem to be a bit more terrestrial. Mediterranean Minimokele (Minimokelesaurus insularis) In the Pliocene European waterways were dominated by the now-extinct species, †''Mokelesaurus gargouille'', which, before the ice ages, ranged from the British isles to the Persian gulf . It was little different from the modern Nile mokele except for its larger size. The largest known M.gargouille skeleton, found in southern France, indicates the species could reach the length of 16 meters. It is yet unknown whether M. gargouille ''evolved in Europe or in Africa, but it seems to have given rise to the Mediterranean minimokeles (''Minimokelesaurus insularis). 6.5 million years ago the Mediterranean Sea evaporated (the Messinian Salinity Crisis). A series of tall mountains, their slopes blanketed in lush greenery, provided a welcome refuge for dinosaurs that ventured into the salt-encrusted basins from Europe and Africa. Then, a little over one million years later, the Atlantic burst through the Strait of Gibraltar, filling the Mediterranean basin and stranding whole communities of animals on the mountains which had suddenly become remote islands. Now facing conditions radically different than those on their ancestral continental homelands, the isolated Mediterranean dinosaurs began to venture down peculiar evolutionary pathways. The small became large while the large became small. By far the most striking example of this insular size-shift are the minimokeles. Sicilian Minimokele (Minimokelesaurus insularis insularis) An adult male Sicilian minimokele (Minimokelesaurus insularis insularis) reaches a length of just over 4 metres and weighs 450 kg. While still a substantial animal by human standards, this half-pint would be lost in the shadow of its continental cousins. More terrestrial in habit than mainland mokelesaurs, they feed on a wide variety of leafy vegetation as well as seaweed in the shallows. Females and young travel in tightly knit groups whilst the adult males tend to be solitary and territorial, fighting off rivals with a tail-club made of fused osteoderms. Although non-avian theropods have not become established on most of these islands, the minimokeles are still subject to roc attack and have their dorsal surface protected by closely packed armour scutes. The minimokeles that were initially discovered on Sicily are presently the best studied population of these dinosaurs. Malta (Minimokelesaurus insularis kawai) Other minimokeles were subsequently found on Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus and many other Mediterranean islands. Those on Malta (Minimokelesaurus insularis kawai) reach a mere 330 kg, the smallest known adult sauropods, living or extinct. Although currently lumped together as M. insularis, minimokelesaurs from different island groups show proportional differences and preliminary research suggests that at least three separate species are involved. Malagasy Dwarf Mokele (Mokelesaurus madagascariensis) Just as hippos did on Home-Earth, so did the mokeles successfully make the ocean crossing from Africa to the island of Madagascar. As they made themselves at home in waterways that were rather more modest in size compared to the ones on the mainland, they evolved smaller body-sizes to cope with less abundant resources, eventually becoming an insular dwarf species. The 5.5 meter long Malagasy dwarf mokele (Mokelesaurus madagascariensis) looks a lot like a half-sized version of the Nile mokele, with its bony armor and flattened, muscular tail. It has remained anatomically similar to its African cousin and is still mainly aquatic. The only notable difference with the Nile mokele is the flexibility of the neck, which allows the dwarf to feed from low-growing trees. They can be found in suitable freshwater habitats throughout the island. However, it is still the largest animal living on Madagascar. Nanomokele (Nanomokelesaurus terrestrius) The nanomokele (Nanomokelesaurus terrestrius) is without doubt the smallest sauropod in africa, reaching only 3 metres long and weighing about the same as a small cow. It is very shy, but can often be seen browsing in the wabe, and in areas where bushy plants cluster at the jungle's periphery. A strange creature, proved to be descended from the same ancestor as the nile mokele, it is more gracile and compact in body shape, with far more extensive bodily armour to protect it from predators. Despite it's armour, it will, at the slightest sign of danger, retreat into the forest to hide. Davana (Davanosaurus indicus) The davana is the second-largest mokele species, typically weighing four to five tons. It is found in the lower reaches of river systems throughout India and Southeast Asia, along with offshore islands like Sumatra, Java, and Borneo which were attached to the mainland during the ice ages. It is more strictly aquatic than its African counterpart, rarely venturing on land to browse. However, it is also far more salt-tolerant, and quite common in near-shore areas with seagrass beds, giving the local duckgong populations a run for their money anywhere the water is shallow enough for a stroll along the sea bottom. Luzon Dwarf Davana (Davanosaurus luzonae) The Phillippines has only recently received its own davana population as the ice ages began, and the migration to the archipelago became only a comparably short hop. The davana on the larger islands are smaller than their insular counterparts on similar islands elsewhere in the world - perhaps because they entered islands where dryducks were already locally common herbivores. Nonetheless, the davana found a place for themselves in this large island chain. The Luzon dwarf davana is around 500 kg, and locally common throughout rivers and lakes in the forested lowlands of its namesake island. Much like the native dryducks, it has little to worry about in terms of predation, other than the attentions of rocs and crocvars when young. As a recent immigrant from Asia, it is nearly morphologically identical to its mainland cousin, aside from the size difference. Much like other insular animals, under the face of predation its reproduction rate has slowed dramatically - parents generally only lay one or two eggs per breeding season. Muhuru (Scutelotitan animantarx) The muhuru is a solitary, shy creature found in isolated pockets of upland forest, and can be found anywhere from Kenya down to Natal. Though it is on the small side for a mainland sauropod, weighing in at 5 tonnes, it makes up for it in firepower. It has the largest and most complex set of osteoderms of any extant species, with many along the flanks sharpened to points, long, low plate-like forms reminiscent of a stegosaur in two rows along its back, and a well-developed tail club. This is more than enough of a disincentive for all but starving black beasts to leave it alone. The muhuru's origin is an enigma, as it has no fossil antecedents. Genetic studies suggest it is more closely related to mokeles than any other extant titanosaur, and it does have dense bones for a terrestrial titanosaur. However, so far the studies have yet to put a definitive date on the time of separation. Some specologists suggest that the muhuru is a mokele which only entered Africa in the Miocene, while others suggest it may in fact be a surviving old African endemic. Currently the most popular hypothesis is a proto-mokele swam in sometime during the late Eocene or the Oligocene, developing into a terrestrial habitat before the gihugrongos could get in on the action. Raja Laut (Navigatosaurus anoa) All of the mokele species west of the continental shelf and South of the Phillippines are closely related, although only distantly related to the nearby davanas. The most divergent seems to be a one ton beast, the raja laut (Navigatosaurus anoa), the largest animal on Sulawesi. It shows all the distinctive traits of the genus. It is equally at home on the land or in the water, with the ability to raise its head higher than other mokeles, as well as rear up on its hind legs to browse from the forest understory. Most interestingly, it has had a genetic reversal, with its bones partially hollow once again. Raja laut compensate for this by swallowing more stones than other mokeles, but when swept into deep water, it simply vomits up this ballast, and can swim quite capably. From Sulawesi, the genus spread eastward. Notable species from the larger islands include the orah (Navigatosaurus florensis), beenfoho (Navigatosaurus timorensis), and the tubaun (Navigatosaurus rugosa) of New Britain. Indeed, every island in eastern Indonesia larger than a few hundred kilometers has a slightly different, but eerily familiar, ecosystem, always having a dwarf mokele, a dryduck, and unusually large and fat crocvars. Muldjewangk (Navigatosaurus australis) The group never made it to the Solomon islands or anywhere further into the Pacific - likely because the sea currents were going in the wrong direction. However, a population - likely from Timor, but possibly from one of the spice islands, did happen upon Australia. The first fossils are of individuals estimated at less than 500 kilos, but these pioneers ultimately spawned the muldjewangk (Navigatosaurus australis), which at two tonnes gives even the largest of the native euclasaurs a run for their money. It is by far the most terrestrially adapted of all modern mokeles, and can be found anywhere within the northern third of the continent, as well as throughout the New Guinea lowlands. Although it is descended from species with no natural adult predators, it has adapted quite well to the competitive environment of Australia; the underside of its neck has particularly thick skin, and even reinforced with bony osteoderms, protecting it someone from the precision-biting rhynchoraptors. It also has large clutch sizes more typical of a gihugrongo than a mokele. HYPERELEPHAIDAE (Hosers and Huwawas) A recently discovered group of titanosaurs with two native to Asia and one native to Madagascar, not much is known about these creatures seeing how they were recently discovered. However, three species of this group are known. Malagasy Hoser (Eutitanosauroides madagascariensis) In addition to the Malagasy mokele , Madagascar has an old-endemic sauropod, that looks like a hoser, behaves like a hoser, and feeds like hoser; only details of its skeleton show that it isn't a hoser, but it is still a member of the Hoser family. At up to 12 m in length (snout tip to tail tip), it is comparable to the likes of the Gihugrongos of Africa and Asia. It can be found, mostly alone, in forests and tree savannas all over the island, much like the similarly generalist Asian hoser (Hyperelephas immanis). Young individuals are sometimes attacked by croctigers, but adults are among the safest animals on the planet. While the ancestry of some groups of titanosaurs is known, all that we really know is that this creature can trace its ancestry back to the likes of the late Cretaceous sauropod, Rapetosaurus krausei. Asian Hoser (Hyperelephas immanis) Growing much smaller than the Malagasy Hoser, but still a large creature regardless growing up to 8 meters long, the Asian Hoser is the largest creature native to the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java. In a groups of islands dominated the high browsing brachioceratopsians, this species of hoser has managed to make a name for its self by thriving of the forests in the area, usually living alone. Huwawa (Hyperelephas megistos) Another species of titanosaur native to the islands of the coast of Southeast Asia, this titanosaur is rather small creature growing no bigger than 5 meters. With its structure resembling the ancient Jurassic sauropods, it would easy to assume these creatures would be high browsers, but they are actually low browsing creatures seeing how that role was fulfilled by the massive brachioceratopsians. It may seem like a defenseless creature, but looks can be deceptive. This creature will use its whip-lash like to dispel any attacks, most notably the enigmatic deinonychosaurs native to this islands. Category:Spec Dinosauria Category:Alternative evolution Category:Dinosaurs Category:Animals Category:Europe Category:Africa Category:Asia Category:Sauropods Category:Madagascar Category:Titanosaurs Category:Herbivores